The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad's sole class V-24-6-4steam locomotive, No. 2 Lord Baltimore, was constructed by the railroad's own Mount Clare Shops in 1935.[1] It was built under the direction of the road's master mechanic George Emerson, and said to have been inspired by the Great Western Railway locomotive 6000 King George V which had appeared at B&O's 1927 Fair of the Iron Horse. The locomotive was constructed with an experimental water tube firebox, and operated at 350 psi when more typical operating pressure was 250 psi. The 84-inch drive wheels were the biggest ever on B&O steam. It was constructed to haul a new lightweight train, the Royal Blue, between New York City and Washington, DC. Later that year it was sent to the B&O-owned Chicago & Alton Railroad. It returned to the B&O in 1942 during World War 2 and, after work in B&O's shops, was renumbered to #5340 and assigned to service between Washington, DC and Cumberland, Maryland. Shortly afterward, it was withdrawn from service and stored at the railroad's shops in Baltimore, Maryland, and was scrapped in 1949.
B&O No.2 Lord Baltimore
Builders' portrait of the locomotive, 1935 (retouched)
In 1933 the B&O rebuilt P-1c Pacific #5047 as a Class V1 4-6-4 at its Mount Clare Shops in 1933, keeping the same number #5047. In 1935 the B&O built a Class V3 4-6-4 #5350 using its own shops. In 1936 the Railroad built a Class V4 #5360 another 4-6-4. In 1949 Lord Baltimore was retired from service and scrapped, the Class V1 was scrapped in 1950 and so were the Classes V3 and V4. There are no surviving V Class 4-6-4 Hudson Types.
